Disability or scar, a hinderance or a help?

"How many stories do you know in which the hero is different from everyone else in some way, and how many times is that difference physically visible?" (Foster 195)

I think this is the best chaper in the Foster book so far. I think this quote rings true in almost every book I have ever read. I really think that if the hero wasn't different the reader wouldn't be able to relate. I also think that this physical difference makes the reader really care about the character as well. If you read a book at portrays a character that is totally perfect you aren't going to give a hoot what happens to them because they have it all already, in fact if the hero is perfect the reader has no reason to like the hero.

I also think that characters tend to have physical or emotional problems because the author wants them to go through something that involves their physical problem and defeat it, usually learning something about themselves or others. I really don't think physical and emotional scars are ever just something that is there. I also agree with Foster that scars or other deformities or whatever the problem is, holds other symbols as well. "These character markings stand as indicators of the damage life inflicts." (Foster 195).
"But even the other bear signs illustrating the way life marks all who pass through it" (Foster 195). Foster used Harry Potter as an example so I'm going to stick with that. Harry Potter has a scar on his forehead, there are good things about the scar, it shows that Harry is the chosen one that he's different and that he's the good guy but it also shows us sadness. Because the scar exits Harry's parents are dead, and the bad guy is after him. To make it more clear, Harry was literally marked for something bad that happend. Now in other books the character isn't always marked because of a situation that happend but it represents something bad happend in society, something that effects every character, usually the person who has the scar is the one that is able to pull through some kind of bad situation.